


A Promise He Shall Keep

by DarkPhoenixGoddess10



Series: Richard and Anne: One-shots [15]
Category: The White Queen (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-11
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2018-02-12 16:08:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2116218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkPhoenixGoddess10/pseuds/DarkPhoenixGoddess10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard was looking for Anne after she disappeared from the Clarence's manor. Miraculously, he found her as a kitchen maid in the kitchen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Promise He Shall Keep

Richard stumbled back to his chamber utterly exhausted and defeated.

He was searching for Anne, his beloved cousin and betrothed. A young woman not yet sixteen, she had endured so much—death, betrayal, war, and treason. Taken to Burgundy by her ambitious father, she was married to Edward of Lancaster. When Lady Jacquetta of Rivers informed him the news, he nearly went mad. Lancaster was well-known for his cruelty and brutality. Anne was such a delicate girl. How could she ever survive such a marriage? He could not imagine what she could have suffered in his hand.

Her misfortunes did not end with the defeat of Lancastrians, however. With her father dead and her mother abandoned her in the battlefield, Anne ended up as a ward of George, Duke of Clarence. And thus she fell into another limbo after being rescued from the first one. George, the black sheep of the family, was no better than Lancaster.

The Fortune’s Wheel—she could rise very high or fall very low, but she could never turn the wheel at her own bidding. Richard was going to change that. He would spin the wheel for her, turn her sadness into happiness; tears into smile; pain into comfort. He would marry her and take her back to Middleham, home to both of them.

Yet George told him that Anne had run away, which Richard refused to believe.

The two brothers were about to pull out swords. Richard searched high and low for his betrothed, but no avail.

Anne was gone.

Where could she be?

Richard returned to his chamber in defeat. He hated himself for not able to save his beloved woman. Not wanting to remain in his chamber, where he felt trapped, Richard went to the kitchen. He should get something to eat or drink.

***

While there, he saw a young kitchen maid, whose back was to him.

“Make me some soup,” he ordered evenly.

The girl ignored him, continued with her work.

Richard certainly was not in the mood. He sprint to her and grabbed her by the arm. “I said—“

The girl turned to face him and he was stunned. “Anne?”

She looked down and tears fell from her eyes.

“Anne is it you?”

She looked away and refused to face him.

Richard turned her to face him and studied her face. “Anne…”

How could he be mistaken? Her eyes, her features, her face—he could never forget even though her face was covered with cinders.

Taking her hand, he attempted to take her back to his chamber. Anne refused and tried to fight against him; but Richard was stronger. Carrying her back to his chamber, he placed her on the bed despite her struggles.

“Stay here,” he said and went out. In a short while, he came back with a pail of water and oils. Anne stared emptily at the ground.

“I’m going to wash your hands,” he said to her. Shaking, she nodded. When Richard rolled up her sleeves, he noticed the bruises. Instantly, she pulled back and got away from him. Then slowly, she spoke.

“I…I have some scars,” she told him; her voice barely audible. “Would you like to see them?”

Before he could answer, she began to strip. Her dress and shift pooled by her feet. Richard tried to look away, but couldn’t. His eyes bulged out after seeing her body. From her shoulder to ankle, it was covered with bruises and cuts.

“You got hurt from the battlefield,” she continued. “I like to see your scars too.”

Without a word, Richard began to remove his clothes. Soon, he was naked too. Approaching her, he took her hands and guided her to touch his scars and bruises.

They both had suffered much from the war.

Anne wept as she touched his scars. Slowly, Richard folded her into his arms. Touching skin to skin, he held her protectively against his chest.

“Do you love me Richard?” She whispered against his chest.

“I do,” he replied against her hair. “Perhaps I always have.”

“Will…will…will you make love to me?” She muttered.

Richard did not respond.

“You do love me, don’t you?” She asked.

“Let’s get you cleaned up first, okay?” He stroked her cheek.

He had her sit on the bed and wrapped a sheet around her shoulders. With a wash cloth, he wiped her face clean and then carefully washed every inch of her body. After he finished cleaning her, he had her lying down in bed while he put away the water and wash cloth. He came back to her and joined her in bed.

“Make love to me,” she said again, beseeching.

Richard leaned down and kissed her on the lips. She took his hand and pressed it against her breast. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with passion and desperation. Richard caressed each of her bruises and scars with his lips as if he could heal them. She curved her back when he kissed her breasts and belly. He pulled her legs apart and wrapped them around him. Slowly, he thrust into her as gentle as he could.

“Richard…” She mumbled his name.

He thrust into her harder now. He continued until they reached climax. They cried out each other’s name and Anne dug her nails into his back.

***

Their body intertwined, but Anne looked away.

“I am nothing but a broken meat,” she muttered. “I’m no good to you.”

“That is not true,” Richard insisted, pulling her back into his arms. “You are always my Anne.”

“He beats me,” Anne cried against his chest. “He beats me since the night I married him. I was carrying his child, but he beat me so hard that I lost it…”

His eyes became cold and hardened upon hearing that. “He’s dead. He can no longer hurt you.”

“Then my mother abandoned me…she took a ship and left me…she sought sanctuary but she didn’t care for me…”

“I will not abandon you Anne,” Richard comforted her. “I will always be there for you and come back to you.”

“Even I cannot bear you children?”

“You don’t know that,” Richard told her. “We will have children.”

“The Bad Queen said that I am barren—“

“She is just being cruel,” Richard said. “It’s God’s will if we will have children.”

Anne stopped crying. She looked at him and said, “You have scars too, so many. I heard how bad you got hurt and I…I passed out.” She paused and then murmured, “You said that you will never abandon me and that you will come for me, do you mean it?”

“Every single word.”

“Then take me,” she said as she buried her face into his neck. “There’s an inn near Clarence’s mansion. Go to the kitchen and get me out of here. Take me home, to Middleham. Keep your promise and prove yourself different—“

“Dickon!”

He looked up and found Francis standing before him.

He was no longer in his chamber. Instead, he was in his study.

“Dickon,” Francis continued. “We will find—“

Without a word, Richard rose and said, “I know where she is now. Tonight, I will find her.”

He had promised her that he’d save her and take her home.

And he will keep that promise.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt from a Tumblr follower Morgan-Le-Fey.


End file.
